LC 5751 
.P4 
Copy 1 



No. 56 



VACATION SCHOOLS 



CLARENCE ARTHUR PKRR^■ 

IN (HARCK OK THK SCHOdl rl.ANT I lUl/MION IXQIIKY OF IHK RISSKI.I. SACK KOUNOATION 



Published by the 

Df.partmknt of Child Hygiene of the 

RussEii. Sage Foundation 

r Madison Avenue, New York City 



U9(io§raph 



PREFATORY NOTE 

The information upon which the following article 
is based has been gathered from the reports of school 
authorities and voluntary organizations, and also by 
means of correspondence, questionnaires and per- 
sonal investigation. A portion of it was published 
in the June, 1910, issue of The American City, 
under the caption "Summer Use of the School- 
House." 






Vacation Schools 

ONE hot July morning I visited a school 
house down in New York's east side. 
The streets were so full of people, push- 
carts and wagons that it was difficult to make 
one's way. The iron fire-escapes, jutting out 
from the tenements, were hung with trailing 
sheets and soggy pillows. Here and there a 
woman lolled in a window, to catch a moment's 
respite from the suffocation of her apartment. 

Passing through a small yard 1 entered a stone 
building and found myself in a long, cool corridor 
where presently 1 was met by a woman in fresh 
summer attire. On my expressing a desire to look 
through the building, she smiled and led the way. 
We had not gone far before the buzz of many 
voices and the sounds of hammering and sawing 
were heard. Entering a class-room we came upon 
a group of boys working at benches with hammer, 
chisel and fret-saw. They were so busy over the 
brackets, key-racks and wisp-broom holders they 
were making that many of them did not even look 
up. The instructor was entirely engrossed with 
the difficulty a pupil was having with a joint and 
it was easy to see that matters of discipline gave 
him no trouble, in the next room boys were 
caning chairs, most of which had been brought 
from home. The bottoms they were putting in 
were as even and tight as new ones. In another 
room boys and girls, scattered about in little 
groups, were sitting on benches and desk-tops 
weaving baskets. When they got into difficulties 

3 



Of ii«M-(lr-<i iirw Mi.ilrn.il lliey Wt*nl U|) to iIm- 
fc;i())t^r, wlio otcijpif!] a (lt'%k-lo|) hfr^rll m lli<- 
hoiii |,.ui ol \\\r i<»>\\\. A » l;^^^ III Venetian iron- 
work \)fi)\ wrouglil iron ^lrl|)^ mio |>rn:^racks 
an<l t;nul)e-?>li(:k*>, I lie work wa-^ beinf, done jn 
an ordinary chss-room, and ^acli desk was pro- 
tected hy a board securely clamped lo and cover- 
ing il^ lop, 

I lu-rt- were classes of girls leanniij.'^ to .cw, and 
upon .1 iiiii- '.iMiii}-', aloiij.' ilir vvaii were displayed 
llie lian<lkrr( lin^ls, aprons and pellicoals alrea<ly 
made, In another class each member was making 
a real dress for herself. In one of the room* 
girls were twisting thread-wound wire mio hat- 
frames, while some, more advanced, were- liiimiiing 
iIm- hat-franies lliry had |)rrvionsly (on^trll( tcti, 
I iiihtoidery engaged lli«- .ilhnlion ol jiinlhri 
giou|), l)own in tli<- donirslic science kitchen a 
largf class of girls, many of them foreigners, was 
learning to cook and iii the model dining-room 
across the hall my guide and I were served with 
dtlicious lemonade an<l wafers, I lie kindergarten 
looms wrrc crowded with iilljr l)oys and girls, 
III. my ol whom had brought, and were keeping a 
wall liful ryr oiii hn, baby brollirrs and sisters. 
I hese litllf lot-, did nol \tfin to bother either 
teacher or pupil-., ili< marching, singing and 
paprr-cut ling going on pl^l .r. il liny h-id not 
brni there. 

Only one class was occupie<l wiih book work 
It contained mainly pupil-, who h.id l.nlcd m ihr 
|iiiie fxaniiiialioir, and who were studying in the 
hope ol making up their dehciencies in tinu- logo 
on with their classes in September, A ainller 



number were studying elementary subjects with a 
view to completing the number of days of school- 
work required to secure the certificate which 
permits them to go to work. A still smaller 
number were endeavoring through this summer 
study to jump ahead of their classes and thus 
to hasten the day of graduation. 

The June examinations were barely over. The 
compulsory attendance law was not in operation. 
Yet here were 700 children coming regularly 
to school every morning. The principal, as well 
as most of her thirteen assistants, had just finished 
a hard year in regular day-school work. She 
had reports to make and an organization to keep 
in smooth operation. The work of each teacher 
was subject to the inspection of a sharp-eyed 
supervisor. No school regulations or professional 
advantages compelled these men and women to 
do this summer work, and yet they were giving 
up six weeks of their summer's rest and staying 
in the hot, expensive city when they could have 
been in the mountains or at the seashore; neither 
would they have taught day-school classes for as 
little money as they were receiving for this 
work. 

There were twenty-eight other schools in New 
York and some sixty other cities in the United 
States where teachers were likewise spending their 
vacations in the class-room for merely nominal 
wages and in some instances for no compensation 
at all. There were over 9,000 other boys and 
girls in New York, and in the whole country 
hundreds of thousands, maintaining a regularity 
of attendance at school, during the hot season 



and under no compulsion whatsoever, that would 
have been quite respectable during the regular 
dav-school term. 

The explanation of it was clear that morning 
in the east side school. The boys were so busy 
making things, putting themselves into broom- 
holders, brackets, candle-sticks, that represented 
their ability which they could show to others, 
— they were so intent on all this that it did 
not occur to them to annoy their neighbors or the 
teacher. The girls were so occupied in learning 
how to make dresses and hats that they forgot 
to talk loudly or laugh boisterously. When the 
teacher helped them over a difficult step in their 
work their faces gleamed with gratitude; when 
she gave some general directions they all listened 
intently. On entering school their countenances 
reflected the satisfaction felt at home over the 
fact that they were neither in the street nor under 
foot in the house impeding the work that had to 
be done. Aside from the joy of making things, 
the children were glad to escape from their hot 
stuffy apartments into the cool, well ventilated 
schoolrooms. In a word, both teachers and pupils 
were happy because they were doing what they 
liked to do. The teachers taught and the pupils 
attended this school because it was a "school 
of play." 

Whether one considers this highly developed 
New York vacation school or the one which some 
woman's club in a small city has just started, 
the essential characteristics are the same. For 
both teacher and pupil the vacation school affords 
the occupation of their choice and one which, 



making small demands upon the head, satisfies 
the heart and fills the hands. 



The Activities Found in Vacation Schools 



Most Common 

Basketry 

Sewing 

Woodwork 

Cooking 

Sloyd 

Kindergarten 

Drawing 

Cardboard work 

Nature study 

Singing 

Games 

Dressmaking 



Common 

Iron work 
Raffia 
Reed work 
Household arts 
Physical training 
Excursions 
Chair caning 
Clay modeling 
Millinery 
Embroidery 
Story telling 
Knitting 



Least Common 

Paper work 
Dancing 
Leather work 
Burnt wood 
Shoe making 
Gardening 
Stencil cutting 
Picture study 
First aid 
Nursing 
Toy making 
Academic work 



This list represents a composite of the subjects 
taught and the kinds of work given in a dozen 
different cities. They are set down in the order 
of frequency with which they are found. No one 
school system affords them all. 

In most schools a pupil receives instruction in 
no more than two subjects during a daily session. 
Cambridge gives its boys a choice between sloyd 
and basketry while the girls may take either 
basketry or cooking and sewing. At one time 
the two-hour sloyd period in Cambridge was 
divided between sloyd and drawing. It was found, 
however, that the boys were averse to the drawing 
and it was omitted. With the two hours given 
entirely to sloyd the boys are now able to finish 
more articles and their interest is greatly aug- 
mented. In St. Louis pupils are divided into 



groups according to their rank in tiie regular day- 
school. 

Grade in Elementary 
(jROUP School 

Kindergarten Kindergarten 

Primary I and 1 1 

Intermediate 111, IV and V 

Advanced Classes VI, VI 1 and VI 1 1 

The activities of the vacation kindergartens 
are the same as those carried on during the regular 
school term. The primary boys and girls have 
games, sewing, drawing, raifia and reed work. 
The girls of the intermediate and the advanced 
grades take lessons in housekeeping, which for 
the oldest ones include instruction in cooking. 
The boys of these two grades are taught bent iron 
work and wood carving and the oldest ones 
manual training. Twenty minutes of singing 
and story-telling open the session, after which 
follow four recitation periods of forty minutes 
each. Manual training, housekeeping and cook- 
ing each receive one hour and twenty minutes. 
Games are introduced for both educational and 
social purposes. The instructor teaches the chil- 
dren how to play checkers, dominoes, parchesi, 
backgammon, authors, geographical games (dis- 
sected maps and card games of countries, cities, 
manufactures, products and races), games of 
the names of great persons, presidents, battles, 
historical places and epochs, indoor baseball, 
charades, guessing and observation games, pris- 
oners' base, blindman's buff, and many other 
amusements. In the selection of these regard 



lO 



was had to their cheapness, so that the families 
of the children would be able to buy some of the 
games, learned for the first time at the vacation 
schools, for home amusement during the long 
winter evenings. 

The housekeeping course in the St. Louis 
vacation schools is very thorough. Children are 
taught the details of washing (rinsing, starching, 
blueing and drying), ironing, sweeping, dusting, 
scrubbing, polishing pans, washing dishes, clean- 
ing windows, setting and serving a table, making a 
bed, hanging pictures, the care of lamps, and keep- 
ing the rooms in order. New ideals of personal 
cleanliness are inculcated through the daily use 
of the baths connected with the school house. In 
Buffalo the pupils are given instruction in swim- 
ming through the courtesy of the Y. M. C. A. 
gymnasium instructor. 

Cleveland lays more emphasis than St. Louis 
upon purely academic work. The Central high 
school and six grammar school buildings are 
thrown open for class-work to aid students in 
making up studies in which they had failed during 
the year. Pupils from the fifth grade up are ad- 
mitted to these summer classes. In Cincinnati 
also the summer academic work is held in separate 
buildings quite apart from the other vacation 
classes. 

The vacation school work proper is carried on 
by separate schools known as the kindergarten, 
primary, and manual training summer schools. 
Instruction in the primary schools is entirely oral 
and embraces the following exercises : story telling, 
the teaching of songs and poems, games, nature 



II 




b- 



f- 



12 



study, excursions and light work in manual 
training. The latter includes plain sewing and 
embroidery, paper-cutting, weaving and pasting, 
raffia and reed work, drawing and water coloring, 
clay modeling and some constructive work. 

The time allotted to the various subjects is 
indicated in the following sample program: 

Daily Program, Primary School 
Cleveland 

8:30 to 9:00 Songs, stories told and read 

by teacher and children. . .30 minutes 
9:00 to 9:30 Marches, drills, skipping, 

games in Assembly Hall . .30 minutes 
9:30 to 10:30 Manual training, sewing, bas- 
ket making 60 minutes 

10:30 to 10:50 Recess 20 minutes 

10:50 to II :oo Song, short story, poem 10 minutes 

1 1 :oo to II :30 Occupation work, clay, pa- 
per-cutting, dolls, nature 

work, painting 30 minutes 

1 1 :30 Dismissal 

The summer manual training schools are at- 
tended by boys from the four grammar grades and 
the first year in the high school. The course is 
planned on practical lines and consists in making 
simple pieces at first and then gradually working 
up to such articles as ironing-boards, plate and 
towel racks, book shelves, picture frames, tab- 
ourets, tables, chairs and shirt-waist boxes. All 
the instruction is given by thoroughly trained 
men and the schools are completely equipped with 
tools and benches. White wood and chestnut 



'3 

and oak lumber are provided, and the pupils are 
required to pay part of the cost of the articles they 
make and take home. 

In both Cleveland and Pittsburgh the public 
libraries co-operate with the vacation school 
authorities by sending trained story tellers who 
interest the children in good literature and some- 
times distribute books among them. A feature 
of the Cincinnati work is a mothers' meeting 
held one afternoon a week at each of the vaca- 
tion schools. A program of music and recitations 
is given by the children with the help of talented 
persons from the neighborhood and is followed by 
a social time at which flowers are frequently 
distributed. 

In several of the cities the outing is one of the 
most enjoyable of the summer school activities. 
In Chicago excursions are made to the large open 
areas of the outer parks or to the suburban wood- 
lands. Sometimes the managers of resorts grant 
concessions and the children are taken to them. 
In St. Louis and Cleveland the children are given 
a free outing every other week to one of the parks, 
where they play games, pick flowers and study 
nature. Sometimes the Cleveland children are 
taken to the Zoo and served with ice cream and 
cake. The expenses of the outings in Cincinnati 
are met by private subscription. One Friday 
morning the teachers and children attended a 
concert given by well-known musicians in the 
Music Hall and at another time they saw the 
"Hiawatha" play at the Zoo. In Haverhill, 
Massachusetts, the children in company with 
their teachers visit the rooms of the historical 



14 

society, the birthplace of Whittier, the beach, or 
the park of a nearby lake. 

In the New York vacation schools talks on city 
history are made more impressive by excursions 
under the care of the teachers to various historical 
places. The children are prepared in the class- 
room for the trips, by being told what they are 
to see, and why it is significant. Some seasons 
over 200 excursions are made to points of histori- 
cal interest in and about New York. 

Some cities include academic work with the 
handwork. In Rochester reading, language work 
and drawing in color are taught in addition to the 
usual subjects. New Orleans also provides in- 
struction in arithmetic, geography and history. 
Boston gives the opportunity to study whatever 
book subjects the pupils demand, and in some 
New York schools the foreign born children are 
specially instructed in English. Previous to the 
recent Hudson-Fulton celebration in New York 
one of the east side principals arranged historical 
exhibits for each room in the school. They 
portrayed the life on Manhattan from the time 
of the first settlers up to the Revolutionary War 
and included Indian sketches, portraits of the early 
Dutch colonists and pictures showing costumes 
and customs. 

In Pittsburgh, according to Miss Beulah Ken- 
nard, the president of the playground associa- 
tion, the endeavor has been "to base each de- 
partment on a normal play instinct and to 
keep them spontaneous, childlike and joyous, 
without strain and without self-consciousness. 
In the 'carpenter shops' boys are given play 



'5 

models and allowed to use the saw and plane 
like men. In the art classes Indian or war stories 
are illustrated on large sheets of paper, while the 
girls paint flowers and birds and stencil dainty 
patterns which they have themselves designed. 
They use live models whenever possible, and 
parrots, puppies, cats, geese and chickens are 
carried from school to school, to the great delight 
of the children. Dancing and rhythmic gym- 
nastic exercises receive much attention, as the 
children do not know how to use either hands or 
feet well. They can neither stand nor walk nor 
throw a ball straight. Classes in cooking and 
nursing have been fitted in wherever space can be 
found, the boys being as anxious to cook as the 
girls. But to the over-industrious teachers and 
children one inflexible rule has been given — 
'The play period must not be encroached upon.' 
Every teacher has her game book and must learn 
to play if she has forgotten how." 

With such a guiding principle it is not strange 
that the children should co-operate in the main- 
tenance of order. In one of the schools a basketry 
class of small boys composed and wrote on the 
blackboard the following rules: 

You must not sass the teacher. 
You must not chew gum. 
You must not talk loud. 
You must not break the rules. 

The length of the vacation school session in 
most cities is six weeks. In a few the session 
lasts only five weeks. In one city it continues 
onlv four, while in Cleveland the period is eight 



i6 

weeks. The date of opening the schools varies 
from a week after the end of the day-school 
term to the middle of July. The usual hours are 
from 9 to 12 a. m. or 8.30 to 1 1.30 a. m. Usually 
there are no sessions on Saturday. In Cincin- 
nati there is no class-work on Friday, that day 
being devoted to the weekly excursions. 

THEIR ADMINISTRATION 

Each instructor in the New York City vacation 
schools is a specialist chosen from an appropriate 
eligible list in the order of standing. Details of 
instruction are looked after by a supervisor for 
each subject and district superintendents have 
general charge over the work of their respective 
districts. 

In St. Louis the conduct and management of 
the vacation schools is in the hands of a supervisor 
who, under the direction of the superintendent of 
instruction, plans the course of study and program 
for each school and supervises the work of the 
principal. Each school has as many teachers as 
the work demands, provided that the quota of 
pupils for each paid teacher is not less than twenty- 
five; and the supervisor may with the consent 
of the superintendent of instruction employ a 
limited additional number of qualified volunteer 
teachers, such as Teachers' College students or 
members of the senior class in the high school. 
In Cincinnati, Cleveland and Newark the vaca- 
tion school work is in charge of a supervisor who 
reports to the superintendent of schools. These 
three cities employ mainly day-school teachers. 
Applications are usually so numerous that a 



'7 




selection can be made of those best fitted for 
special lines of work. 

Many cities, like New York, Cleveland and 
Cincinnati, organize their teaching on the depart- 
mental plan, but Newark, whose board of educa- 
tion was the pioneer in municipal vacation school 
work, has recently abandoned this scheme. There 
an effort is made to secure a teacher who can do all 
of the work required in each grade; it has been 
found that teachers of special subjects fail to 
become as intimately acquainted with their pupils 
as the grade teachers who are with their classes 
throughout the session. In Chicago, St. Louis, 
Cincinnati and several other cities there are many 
volunteer workers on the teaching staff. School- 
work relieved of the trials connected with disci- 
pline has lost its most forbidding element, while 
the joyousness and satisfaction which pervade 
the vacation class-room constitute a strong appeal 
to all who like to help children. In Boston and 
St. Louis it has been found that this work serves 
as an admirable training for young people study- 
ing to become teachers. 

Special training classes for teachers desiring 
summer school work are held in Newark under the 
director of manual training and thus properly 
qualified candidates are available for all the 
positions. In Pittsburgh a teachers' institute is 
held three days prior to the opening of the schools 
and weekly teachers' meetings are conducted 
throughout the term. The superintendent has 
also arranged with the University of Pittsburgh 
to give Saturday courses in psychology, sociology 
and education for the benefit of the vacation 



19 



school and playground teachers, in Cincinnati 
and several other cities vacation school teachers 
are organized and hold meetings throughout the 
year. 

The salaries of the St. Louis teachers for the term 
of six weeks aie as follows: Supervisor $250.00; 
principal |8o. 00; teacher $60.00; assistant teacher 
I30.00. In Chicago the regular teachers re- 
ceive I75.00 for the six weeks' term, and the 
assistant teachers $50.00 and $30.00. Cincinnati 
teachers receive a uniform rate of $2.00 per day. 
The salaries in New York are as follows: 

Supervisors $6.00 per day 

Principals 4.50 

Teachers 3.00 

Kindergartners 3.00 

Kindergarten helpers 1.50 

Substitutes i . 50 

Cost of Vacation Schools 



City 

Buffalo.. . . 
Cambridge. 
Chicago . . . 
Cincinnati . 
Cincinnati* 
Newark. . . . 
New York . 
Pittsburgh. 
St. Louis . 







Cost of 


Average 


Per 






Mainie- 


Atten- 


Capita 


eason 


Schools nance 


dance 


Cost 


1909 


9 


$5,724.87 


2.333 


$2.45 


1908 


6 


1 ,79 1 . 1 8 


907 


'■97 


1908 


lb 


23,217.59 


6,003 


3.86 


1908 


4 


2,900.00 


1,480 


1.96 


1908 


1 


1 ,200.00 


357 


3.36 


1909 


27 


31.34400 


9,016 


3.48 


1908 


27 


7049577 


14,586 


4.83 


1908 


10 


8,2=56.99 


2.544 


3.24 


1908 


2 


2,869.08 


577 


4.97 



* Summer academic school which is run separately. 

These figures have in most instances been 
compiled from school reports. There is no as- 
surance that uniform methods were employed 
in arriving at the cost of maintenance, so they 



20 



have no value for the purpose of inter-city com- 
parisons. They are to be regarded simply as 
examples of vacation school expenditure. 

The cost of the Haverhill vacation schools in 

1907 averaged 78 cents per pupil. The same sea- 
son St. Louis conducted summer school work the 
cost of which^ computed on the average daily at- 
tendance, was $5.58 per capita. The Des Moines 
schools during the season of 1909 cost about I3. 00 
per pupil, which is a fair average for the country. 
The expensiveness of these schools varies with 
the size of classes, salaries of teachers, kinds and 
amount of material used, and equipment in- 
stalled. With volunteer workers, contributed 
material, borrowed tools and the use of idle school 
rooms, a large number of children can be provided 
with many hours of useful happiness at little or no 
expense. The per capita cost in New York for 
the 1906 vacation schools was I4.84; in 1907 it 
jumped to I5.03 and in 1908 it sank to the 1906 
figures. In St. Louis the second year of its vaca- 
tion work showed a reduction of 61 cents in the 
cost per pupil. Cambridge vacation schools in 

1908 decreased I0.41 per pupil below the cost in 
1907. This was due in part to an increase in the 
average attendance and in part to the omission of 
drawing, since more teachers were required when 
drawing was given in connection with the sloyd 
work. The Newark summer school work increased 
in cost from I1.77 (based on average attendance) 
in 1 90 1 to I3.68 in 1907. The reasons given for 
this increase are mainly rise in the salaries of 
teachers, reduction in size of classes, introduction 
of new kinds of work requiring additional teachers, 



21 

greater expense for supplies and equipment, and 
the enlargement of the supervising corps. 

In the Cleveland schools the children pay one- 
half the cost of the material used in making the 
articles which they take home, in Haverhill a 
considerable sum was realized from the sale of 
baskets at the end of the term. In most schools, 
however, after the usual closing exhibition of the 
vacation school work, the children are given the 
articles they have made. 

HOW THHV START 

The first vacation school in this country of 
which there is any record was held in 1866 under 
the auspices of the First Church of Boston, but 
it was in no way connected with the public schools 
of that city. The report of the Providence super- 
intendent of schools for June, 1870, states: "For 
two years past schools have been opened in the 
summer vacation for such children as wished to 
attend. These have been a great blessing to the 
city. All lessons are made as attractive as pos- 
sible by apt illustration and familiar conversation. 
Sewing, drawing and object teaching occupy a 
prominent place." These schools were under a 
volunteer committee. In 1876 they were dis- 
continued, but in 1894 they were revived and 
carried on for six years, when they were finally 
turned over to the school committee. The first 
municipal board of education to incorporate 
vacation schools as a part of its system was that cf 
Newark, where they were established in 1885. 

In 1894 the Association for the Improvement 
of the Condition of the Poor in New York Citv 



22 



obtained the use of four public schools and main- 
tained classes in manual training and allied sub- 
jects during the vacation season. In 1897 vaca- 
tion schools were adopted as a part of its public 
school system by the New York Board of Educa- 
tion. 

In 1896 at a conference of the Associated 
Charities in Chicago a committee was appointed 
to take up the matter of establishing vacation 
schools in that city, and through the efforts of this 
committee the Civic Federation was induced to 
conduct one vacation school. In the summer of 
1897 a school supported by private contributions 
was also maintained in the Seward School, under 
the auspices of the Chicago University Settlement. 
The Chicago women's clubs became interested in 
1898, and assisted by several charitable associa- 
tions, formed an organization for the purpose of 
carrying on summer schools until they should 
become an organic part of the municipal system. 
In 1908 this body was known as the "Permanent 
Vacation School Committee of Women's Clubs." 
It expended 123,217.59 upon sixteen vacation 
schools, of which amount $15,000.00 were con- 
tributed by the Chicago Board of Education. 
The sessions were held in public school buildings, 
but were directed by a superintendent in the em- 
ploy of the Vacation School Committee. 

The introduction of vacation schools and play- 
grounds in Pittsburgh was due to the activity of 
the Civic Club. As early as 1896, while looking 
about for some needed thing to undertake, it was 
impressed by the number of forlorn homes and 
crowded streets in the city and resolved to secure 



23 




24 

the use of the school yards for the children who 
had no place to play. After the grounds had 
been secured the astonishing discovery was made 
that most of the children did not know how to 
play. Chiefly the children of immigrants, they 
came from mill neighborhoods and foreign settle- 
ments and had never had an opportunity to learn 
the games and sports which have always been the 
birthright of American boys and girls. The boys 
seemed to be animated solely by a feverish de- 
sire for work and the girls would not come unless 
bribed with sewing classes. The parents also con- 
tinually asked that their young children be given 
some kind of manual work. In response to these 
demands more and more hand work was included 
in the playground programs, and thus after several 
years' experimentation the activities of the vaca- 
tion school came to be combined with those of 
the playground. For the younger children kin- 
dergarten methods were still employed, but for 
those over eight years of age the daily program 
was revised to include some form of industrial 
work, music, nature study and clay modeling or 
drawing and coloring. 

In 1900, feelinar that more popular support was 
needed, the Civic Club asked the women's clubs 
to help them. A meeting was held and the joint 
committee then formed from the delegates of the 
various clubs conducted the work for the next 
six years. The women became enthusiastic over 
the undertaking and the playground and vacation 
school work added a new interest to their club 
life. There were many volunteer workers among 
their members and liberal contributions were 



25 

made out of their treasuries. The Central Board 
of Education of Pittsburgh gradually increased 
its financial assistance until in 1908 its annual 
appropriation had reached the sum of 19,500. The 
schools, however, are still (1910) under the direc- 
tion of the women's clubs, though the organization 
composed of their delegates is known as the Pitts- 
burgh Playground Association. 

On the north side of Pittsburgh, formerly the 
city of Allegheny, vacation schools, started in 1905 
by a joint committee of the women's clubs of Alle- 
gheny, are conducted by the Playground and Vaca- 
tion School Association of Allegheny, Incorporated. 
The Association at the present time is made up 
of delegates from over twenty women's clubs, 
church societies and neighborhood committees. 
The schools are supported by appropriations from 
the city and from private contributions, and are 
administered by officers selected by the Asso- 
ciation and by a large number of voluntary workers. 

Vacation schools in Cleveland were established 
in 1895 under the auspices of the Ladies' Aid 
Society of the Old Stone Church. These schools 
were carried on by the Day Nursery and Free 
Kindergarten Association from 1901 to 1903, 
when the Board of Education assumed their 
control. In Milwaukee, some public spirited and 
philanthropic women began by obtaining the 
use of one of the public school buildings. They 
employed teachers and held classes for six weeks. 
In 1904 the board of school directors, impressed 
by the value of this instruction, established and 
carried on one vacation school, while the women's 
organization continued their work in a new 



26 

locality. In the following year the school board 
assumed the responsibility for both schools and 
the women withdrew from the field. 

In Rochester, the Women's Educational and 
Industrial Union and the Playground League 
played a prominent part in the inception of the 
vacation schools in that city. In Johnstown, 
Pennsylvania, they were first started by the local 
civic club at the suggestion of a teacher who had 
taught in the summer classes of another city. 
Funds were raised by subscription. In Medford, 
Massachusetts, vacation schools are supported by 
a vacation school association composed mainly 
of women who act in co-operation with the munic- 
ipality. The business men of Minneapolis sup- 
ported the vacation schools of that city during 
the summer of 1906. Those of St. Paul ob- 
tained their start through the co-operation of 
the superintendent of schools and the St. Paul 
Institute of Arts and Sciences. Soon after the 
incorporation of the Institute its assistance in 
starting vacation sessions in the public schools 
was asked by the superintendent of schools. The 
executive committee of the Institute promptly 
put I500 of its slender resources at the disposal 
of the school board. To this sum the Board of 
Education added I650, and several organizations 
contributed additional amounts, materials, tools 
and services. With this help the school board in 
1908 opened four buildings, the average attend- 
ance at which was 846 pupils. The experiment 
was so successful that the board introduced va- 
cation schools into its regular system and in 1909 
appropriated |2,ooo for their maintenance. The 



27 

Institute being relieved from contributions for their 
support, then devoted itself to securing a system 
of school gardens to be conducted in connection 
with the summer classes. Through co-operation 
with several other societies and a newspaper, 
some $800 were raised for this purpose. 

In Indianapolis, vacation schools are carried 
on by the Public Recreation Committee of the 
Children's Aid Association. In Worcester, their 
success is due largely to the co-operation of the 
merchants of the city, who make generous dona- 
tions of materials and supplies. Cincinnati owes 
its vacation schools to the early efforts of a 
woman's club of that city; and the Women's Club 
of Brockton, Massachusetts, co-operated with the 
school department in maintaining during the 
summer months a kindergarten in one school and 
a sewing class in another. 

RESULTS 

The president of the Pittsburgh Playground 
Association reports that as a result of its vacation 
school work, industrial and domestic science de- 
partments have been placed in a number of the 
day-schools. In other schools play has been given 
a place on the regular daily program and a large 
number of teachers have learned how to play with 
their children. In districts where vacation schools 
have been maintained it is reported that the chil- 
dren have returned to school in a less demoralized 
condition than is usual after the long holiday. 
Especially in the densely populated portions of 
the city the living conditions of families have 
been improved. The instruction received in the 



28 

summer classes has helped "to make the home 
cleaner and the clothes less dependent on 'the 
strained devotion of a pin.' Little girls have taught 
their mothers how to cook wholesome, plain food 
and their care of the spoiled tenement baby has 
been more intelligent. At one school the girls 
were asked if their baby brothers and sisters ever 
drank coffee. Everyone answered 'Yes'. When 
the babies are put on a milk diet instead of one 
including coffee, doughnuts and bananas, they 
will lie in a basket or hammock, and the little 
sisters that tend them can themselves rest or 
play with other children. . . . And the gang 
has been tamed. The West End gang whose 
ideals had been confined to baseball and pugilism 
became enthusiastic carpenters. Their devotion 
to the fine, clean young fellow who was their 
instructor was pathetic. They followed him 
around. In order to cure the sneak thieving he 
would leave all the material out on the ball field 
and go away without making any boy responsible 
for it. The next morning every bat and ball and 
glove would be returned." 

In the Buffalo vacation schools the boys showed 
great enthusiasm over manual training. Mem- 
bers of the chair-caning classes not only caned 
all the broken chairs in their own homes, but at 
one school eighteen chairs were caned for one of 
the local churches, for which the boys were paid 
at the rate of fifty cents each. At the close 
of the summer session many went immediately 
into the chair-caning business. One of the chief 
benefits afforded by these summer schools is the 
opportunity for manual training given to boys and 



29 

girls who do not have it in their regular day-school 
cdurse. 

In the St. Louis vacation schools five boys who 
had become wards of the Juvenile Court were en- 
rolled. The offences for which they had been 
arrested were not grave enough to warrant their 
being sent tothe Industrial School, but thev needed 
a term of several weeks under the eye of some 
responsible authority other than their parents. 
They were allowed to attend the summer classes 
and weekly reports of their conduct and progress 
were made to the court. The boys continued in 
attendance up to the last day and gave no trouble 
worthy of comment. In Cleveland one vacation 
school was composed solely of 135 boys who had 
been assigned to the detention home by the 
judge of the Juvenile Court. They ranged in 
age from three and one-half to seventeen years, 
and in school rank from the first grade to the 
first year in the high school. They were given 
gardening, drawing, weaving, paper-cutting, clay 
modeling and decorating, and raffia work. During 
the summer they made three excursions to nearby 
parks. 

One of the rnost important utilities of the vaca- 
tion school lies in the opportunity it affords back- 
ward scholars to make up work left unfinished at 
the close of the school year. The attendance at the 
Cleveland summer high school for the past seven 
years has averaged 252 pupils, and during that 
time the instruction has enabled over 1200 boys 
and girls to advance regularly with their classes in 
the fall, and has undoubtedly been influential in 
holding this large number of pupils until they 



30 

secured the advantages of a complete high school 
education. During the summer of 1909 over 700 
grammar school boys and girls obtained promotion 
as the result of attendance at vacation classes. 
Eight}^ per cent of those in attendance at the 
summer academic school in Cincinnati during 

1908 were promoted in the fall. The zeal and 
perseverance of these pupils surprised even the 
teachers. Some of the children said it was the 
first work they had ever done with all their might, 
and those who were promoted, so far as reported, 
have sustained themselves creditably in their new 
classes. 

Another way in which the vacation schools 
may serve the community is illustrated by the 
course of lectures given during the summer of 

1909 in the Chicago vacation schools under the 
auspices of the Visiting Nurses' Association. 
These lectures were upon the proper care and 
feeding of infants, the necessity of cleanliness and 
suitable clothing, the preparation and preservation 
of milk, and the use of barley water and the various 
substitutes for milk which are employed during 
the period when intestinal disease is prevalent 
among infants. They were given by medical men, 
nurses and other specially trained persons. To the 
lectures were admitted the summer school students 
of the upper grammar and high school grades. 
A campaign of education was thus carried on for 
the purpose of controlling and ameliorating the 
diarrheal diseases in children. 

The success of the vacation school work is 
undoubtedly responsible in a measure for the 
tendency, now noticeable in various parts of the 



3' 

country, to extend the regular school instruction 
beyond its traditional time limits. In Oakland, 
California, the schools have been opened on Satur- 
day forenoons so that those outside of the school 
system may be instructed in sewing, cooking and 
manual training. The school year which obtains 
in the new ^650,000 technical high school in 
Cleveland is divided into four quarters of twelve 
weeks each with a week of vacation after each 
quarter. y\s a result, one of the regular term 
sessions takes place during the summer months. 
During the summer of 1909 there were 450 pupils 
whose daily attendance averaged 97 per cent of 
the total enrollment registered in this school. 

Any proposal to extend the regular term of 
school throughout thesummerimmediately arouses 
the apprehension of the public as to the effect upon 
the health of the children. Even though the course 
during the hot months were largely of a manual 
character, many persons would still fear the con- 
sequences of a compulsory attendance during the 
summer. It has been pointed out that the success 
and beneficial results of the vacation schools are 
largely due to the voluntary nature of the at- 
tendance. On the other hand evidence favoring 
an extension of the school term is to be found in 
the work of the Hebrew Technical School for 
Girls in New York City, which has a continuous 
session of eighteen months. The pupils attend 
for eight hours each day, but throughout the 
course they are given medical supervision, plenty 
of fresh air, and exercise in the gymnasium and 
swimming pool. At 10 a. m. daily each girl 
receives a cup of milk or cocoa and at noon she 



32 

has the opportunity to buy a bowl of soup for one 
cent, and thus supplement the luncheon brought 
from home. This long school day and the con- 
tinuous session were forced upon the managers by 
necessity, but up to the present time no bad 
effects upon the health of the girls have been 
noticed, while in many cases there has been a 
decided improvement. 

The gradual assumption of vacation school 
work by boards of education and the tendency to 
increase the sessions of academic instruction show 
that municipalities are more and more recognizing 
that their responsibility for the education and 
welfare of children is not limited to the forty 
weeks of the school year. 

REFERENCES 
American, Sadie: The Movement for Vacation Schools. American 

Journal of Sociology, Nov., i8q8, pages 309-25. 
Curtis, Henry S.: Vacation Schools, Playgrounds, and Settlements. 

Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education for 1Q03, Vol. I, 

pages 1-38. 
DE Montmorency, J. E.G.: School Excursions and Vacation Schools. 

Vol. xxi of Special Reports on Education Subjects, Board of 

Education, London, 1Q07. 
DuTTON AND Snedden: Administration of Public Education in the 

United States. Pages 579-581. References to recent articles. 

The Macmillan Company, New York, 1908. Price I1.75. 
Houston, Marion: Bibliography of Playgrounds and Vacation 

Schools. Charities, April 2, 1904, pages 358-60. 
Lee, Joseph: Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy. Pages 

109-122. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1906. Price 

1 1. 00. 
Milliken, O. J.: Chicago Vacation Schools. Amer. Journal of 

Sociology, Nov., 1898, pages 289-308. 
Whitney, Evangeline E.: Annual Reports of City Superintendent 

of Schools to New York Board of Education. From 1902 to 

1909. Miss Whitney was District Superintendent in charge of 

Vacation Schools, Playgrounds and Recreation Centers. 
See also Summer Schools and Playgrounds, by Morton L. Dartt, 
Board of Education, Cleveland, 1908; Report of the Chicago 
Permanent Vacation School Committee of Women's Clubs, 1908; the 
annual reports of the Pittsburgh Playground Association; Vacation 
Schools in Philadelpliia, The Plavgrovnd. [uly, 1908; and the annual 
reports of the superintendents of schools of the cities named in the text. 



The Wider Use of the School Plant 

By CLARENCE ARTHUR PERRY 

with an Introduction 
By Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick 

The chapter heads of this book are as follows: The Wider Use 
Evening Schools, Evening Schools Abroad, The Promotion of 
Attendance at Evening Schools, Vacation Schools, School Play- 
grounds, Public Lectures and Entertainments, Evening Recrea- 
tion Centers, Social Centers, Organized Athletics and Folk Danc- 
mg, Meetings in School Houses, Social Betterment Through 
Wider Use. '"' 

The book is fully illustrated. It shows the activities in actual 
operation, describes the various forms of administration and gives 
pertinent details as to cost, development, and the social amefiora- 
tion which they are effecting. 

Published for the 

Depart.mf.nt of Child Hygiene of the 

Russell Sage Foundation 

by the 

Charities Publication Committee 

105 E. 22d Street, New York City 

(Published October, 1910) 



The Following Pamphlets are Extracts from the Book 
mentioned above 

51 The Wider Use of the School Plant 

52 Public Lectures in School Buildings 
56 Yacation Schools 

Sample copies will be sent upon request. Address: 

DEPARTMENT OF CHILD HYGIENE 

1 Madison Avenue, New York City 



Some of the Pamphlets That Can be Furnished 

by the Department of Child Hygiene of 

the Russell Sage Foundation 

I Madison Avenue, New York City 



Play and Playgrounds 

I. Games Every Boy and Girl Should Know. George E. John- 
son. 

11. Can the Child Survive Civilization? Woods Hutchinson, 

M.D. 

12. Children of the Century. Luther H. GuHck, M.D. 

13. The City and the Child. Wm. H. Maxwell. 

23. First Steps in Organizing Playgrounds. Lee F. Hanmer. 

(Booklet, 10 cents.) 
26. The Relation of Playgrounds to Social Centers. George 

M. Forbes. 
32. Bibliography on Play, George E. Johnson, and Stories for 

Children, Miss Maude Summers. 
34. Why Teach a Child to Play? George E. Johnson. 

Athletics 

16. Public Schools Athletic League of New York City. Lu- 
ther H. GuHck, M.D. 

(Girls' Branch) Public Schools Athletic League of New 
York City. Luther H. Gulick, M.D. 

Athletics for Boys. (Committee Report.) A. K. Aldinger, 
M.D., Chairman. 

Athletics for Girls. Mrs. Frank M. Roessing and Miss Eliza- 
beth Burchenal. 

Amateurism. Luther H. Gulick, M.D. 

P. S. A. L. OF New York City, President's Address. Gen- 
eral George W. Wingate. 
72. Athletics in the Public Schools. Lee F. Hanmer. 



Medical Inspection 

40. The Effect of Physical Defects on School Progress. 

Leonard P. Ayres. 

41. Physical Defects and School Progress. Leonard P. Ayres. 

Hygiene and Health 

29. The Playground as a Factor in School Hygiene. George 

E. Johnson. 
38. Tuberculosis and the Public Schools. Luther H. Gulick, 

M.D. 
48. Health, Morality and the Playground. Elmer Ellsworth 

Brown. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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